International Hydrological Programme

Latin America and the Caribbean

IHP in Latin America and the Caribbean


Regional Hydrologist


The UNESCO Regional Offices are responsible for the implementation of IHP at the regional level. Regional Hydrologists are posted in the field and serve as IHP focal points for all issues relating to the Programme, both at regional and national levels. The Regional Hydrologist for the Latin America and the Caribbean region is:

Ms. María Concepción Donoso
UNESCO Montevideo Office
Edificio MERCOSUR (ex-Parque Hotel)
Calle Dr. Luis Piera 1992, 2° piso
PO Box 859
11200 Montevideo, Uruguay
Tel.: + 598 2 413 20 75
Fax: + 598 2 413 20 94
E-mail: phi@unesco.org.uy


National Committees


As a programme with scientific and educational goals, IHP is a cooperative effort, relying on the worldwide efforts of Member States and their designated IHP National Committees to function efficiently.

:: Access a complete list of IHP National Committees in Latin America and the Caribbean


National reports


The National Committees present reports on their activities in the framework of the Programme. These national reports are submitted to the IHP Intergovernmental Council and cover the activities for the intersessional period between Council sessions.

Reports from the following countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region have been submitted for the current period (2006-2008) and are available online:

  • Haiti [PDF format - 168 KB, in French]

  • Honduras [PDF format - 46 KB, in Spanish]

  • Mexico [PDF format - 834 KB, in Spanish]

  • Peru [PDF format - 2 MB, in Spanish]

Water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean


South America has an area of 17.9 million km2 and a population of less than 400 million, about 6 % of the world total, but produces about 26 % of the world’s water resources.

It has a modern hydrological network with 6,000 or so stations, some with records longer than fifty years.

Precipitation averages over South America are about 1,600 mm a year, with a mean of about 2,400 mm across the Amazon basin. Totals can be as low as 20 mm a year in the Atacama Desert and over 4,000 mm in the Andes in southern Chile. Evaporation rates are high across much of the continent, and with the variability of the precipitation in certain areas, such as north-east Brazil, drought can be a frequent problem.

The Amazon is the world’s largest river, but the Rio de la Plata, Orinoco, San Francisco and Paranaiba rivers are also very important. The average runoff from South America for the 1921–1985 period was calculated to be about 12,000 km3 per year.

There are large and productive aquifers, lakes and reservoirs, but the high density of population in certain areas and the untreated sewage resulting causes water pollution problems and there are similar problems due to agricultural effluents and mine wastes in some parts.

Central America has a surface area of 807,000 km2 and a population of 35 million.

Various factors have put substantial pressure on the water resources, in spite of their abundance. The annual per capita water availability exceeds 3,000 m3/year, but only 42 % of the rural population and 87 % of the urban population have access to drinking water. Two thirds of the population live in areas with drainage to the Pacific ocean, while 30 % of its water discharges into this water body. The other third of the population is located in the Caribbean basin, which generates 70 % of the ‘isthmus’ water. This uneven distribution puts stress on the region’s water resources.

The Caribbean has a surface area of 269,000 km2. Countries differ in size, population and economic conditions. The temperature varies between 24°C in February and 31°C in August, also presenting a wide rainfall variation throughout the region, from 500 mm/year in the Netherlands Antilles to 7,700 mm/year in the Dominican Republic.

The region has sufficient water but the availability of safe water is becoming a major socio-economic issue. Population growth has notably increased water demand. Water quality is a generalized issue in the region due to the degradation caused by agricultural toxic substances and the mismanagement of solid waste as well as mining and industrial activities.


PUBLICATIONS
Urban drainage in specific climates (Vol. I : Urban drainage in humid tropics) [PDF format - 19.55 MB]
The emphasis of this volume is on cities in developing countries of the humid tropics, responding to two overriding factors: (1) the overwhelming majority of cities in this climatic zone are located in developing countries, particularly the largest and the fastest growing ones; and (2) the general lack information and guidelines on urban drainage there makes it an urgent task to disseminate existing experience and knowledge. Most of the experience presented in this book is drawn from the Brazilian humid tropics.
LINKS
Centre for Arid and
Semi-arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC)CAZALAC promotes training, education, scientific research and technological initiatives in the region’s arid and semi-arid zones, where managing water resources is particularly difficult.